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Joystiq Weekly: Batman: Arkham Knight, our South Park review and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Rocksteady revealed its return to the Batman series this week with Batman: Arkham Knight, and we've dug out capes and Batarangs from our Halloween stash to get properly excited. Last year's Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate were the first pieces of the series that weren't developed by Rocksteady. We enjoyed Arkham Origins well enough, but we're ready to move on from its bugs and glitches, especially since not all of them will be fixed with a patch. Arkham Knight is set to be the final game in the Arkham series, and we're eager to see what Rocksteady will do for the finale once it releases in October. There's plenty to read while we wait however, including news of Amy Hennig's departure from Naughty Dog, a preview of Watch Dogs and a review of South Park: The Stick of Truth. We've rounded up those stories and more for you in this week's edition of the Joystiq Weekly. [Image: Warner Bros.]
Magus review: Best worst game
Magus is the worst game I've played this year, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Bad games typically fall into one of two categories. Many are bad because they're mechanically awkward or otherwise deeply flawed in terms of controls, making them frustrating to play. The second category is much rarer. These games are poorly conceived but otherwise inoffensive with regard to gameplay, often rendering them inept in an endearing sort of way. Magus, exclusive to PS3, neatly falls into the latter category, offering up tons of unintentional laughs at the expense of its boneheaded writing and simplistic gameplay. It's a rare gem of a game that manages to be immensely entertaining despite having no obvious redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Magus is magical fantasy in a godless world
It's pronounced "may-jus," apparently. Magus, the first game developed by mainly Japanese-RPG publisher Aksys, launched on PSN on February 25. It's co-developed by Japanese company Black Tower Studios, and President Richie Casper says it's fantasy with a focus on humans, not orcs or trolls. [Image: Aksys]
PSN Tuesday: Thief, Pac-Man Museum, Lords of Shadow 2
The PlayStation Store updated today with new games across every platform, led by the launches of Thief and Basement Crawl on PS4. Thief joins another new release in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 on PS3 this week. PS3 owners can pick up The Batman Bundle, which includes Batman: Arkham Origins and the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns animated film as well as the Tales of Symphonia Chronicles bundle that comprises both Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Rounding out this week's PS3 additions is Magus and Pac-Man Museum, the latter being a $20 pack of games spanning the yellow gobbler's series. Vita owners only get one new game this week: Mahjong 2 World Contest, as well as PSOne Classic Herc's Adventures, also available on PS3 and PSP. Though Vita owners can now download the Crackle app to watch movies and TV shows, the marquee media streaming addition this week is the WWE Network app on PS3 and PS4. [Image: Square Enix]
Magus, first game developed by Aksys, out on PS3 Feb. 25
Niche publisher Aksys will dip a toe into untested waters with this month's PlayStation 3 release of Magus, the first game the studio is tackling in a co-development role. The Virtue's Last Reward publisher previously announced that it would develop Magus in partnership with Japanese developer Black Tower Studios, though few details regarding the game have been revealed since it was first teased in 2013. Magus is an action RPG in which players control a mysterious, god-like prisoner equipped with a powerful array of chromatic magical abilities. Magus will be priced at $30 when it debuts at retail and digitally via the PlayStation Network on February 25. [Image: Aksys]
Exclusive: Ether Saga Online's Maven class has been unleashed
Our friends over at Perfect World Entertainment are giving Ether Saga Online a major spring update by adding new content and classes. Last week, they gave us insight into the Hellion class, the Mogui who wield dual-bladed axe and a hot temper. Over time, knowledge of the Mogui has been forgotten, even knowledge of the spell-casting Maven -- this week's reveal! This class is capable of teleporting short distances, keeping its allies alive, and dealing ferocious damage to enemies. As with the Hellion class, the Maven is also breaks into two separate advanced classes at level 75: Seraph and Magus. Massively has gained an exclusive first look at this powerful ranged class. Below, we have added eight new screenshots featuring the Maven class. Check 'em out. %Gallery-65163%
Warhammer Online details plans for buffing turrets and daemons
Pets of any kind can pose some issues in games. On the one hand, you want both temporary and permanent pets to provide a utility; on the other hand, you don't want someone crippled without the pet. Warhammer Online has a number of classes that use both permanent and temporary companions, and as part of the next update for the game, the team is working on making the engineer's turrets and the magus's daemons more useful for players in combat. Both daemons and turrets will now scale with the owner's stats, allowing their growth to keep better pace with more powerful characters. Equally important, however, is the new stacking buff that both types will receive when the engineer or magus remains near their pet. The buff will increase damage gradually while the player remains nearby, up to a 20% buff to damage output. Take a look at the full details from the development team in this small preview, a welcome promised bone for Warhammer Online players.
Battle of the Immortals reveals classes
Perfect World Entertainment has spent a fair amount of time talking up their upcoming PvP-focused game, Battle of the Immortals. The game certainly looks gorgeous, but we've only heard bits and pieces about how it will actually play. The most recent update, however, certainly provides a fair bit more information on how the game, as it details the game's classes -- Berzerker, Heretic, Magus, Slayer, and Champion. Each class is given a brief writeup of their strengths, weaknesses, and preferred opponents. In no particular order, Slayers deal a mix of physical and magical damage at close range but have next to no defensive abilities. Heretics are a combination of priests with more sinister magics, dealing damage and healing as well as inviting a few obious comparisons. Magi (or maguses, if you prefer) are... well, okay, they're kind of obvious. Berzerkers have an errant "z" in their name and focus on dealing out physical damage at the cost of some defense, and Champions wield a weapon and shield to be all but indestructible. The classes seem set to provide a fair mix of the usual "holy trinity" mechanics and PvP skills, so take a look at the official preview to get a clearer picture of what you might want to play once the game goes live.
Warhammer Online 1.0.6 patch adds new classes, tidal wave of updates
All those Warhammer Online players who where playing along with the Heavy Metal event in November will be happy to know that today the fruits of their labor has arrived. That's right: Today, Mythic brings us Black Guards and Knights of the Blazing Sun! For those who didn't finish the full Heavy Metal event, don't worry, the classes will become available to everyone next week. Servers are going down at 3:30AM PST / 6:30AM EST for North American players with Oceanic servers following at 9:00AM EST. No specific time-frame was given for the updating process, so we'll just have to sit tight and wait it out.New classes aren't the only thing found in this patch, however. There's a ton of general game updates, performance updates, bug fixes and class tweaks coming with the 1.0.6 patch, too. In fact, there are so many class tweaks that Bright Wizards, Chosen, Engineers, Ironbreakers, Maguses (Magi?), Shadow Warriors, Sorcerers, Squig Herders and Swordmasters are all getting their mastery points refunded. Combat also seems to be a big focus, with a ton of improvements to auto-attack animations, ability responsiveness, morale responsiveness and root responsiveness.All in all, we're pretty impressed with Mythic on this patch, as it delivers some substantial changes that many players have been waiting to see. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Massively goes to WAR: An overview of Ranged DPS careers for Destruction
Let's face it: DPS classes just have more fun. Tanks have to always worry about being between the squishies and the pointy things. Healers have to make sure their fellows are standing upright. All DPS classes have to do is be pointed in the right direction and relatively sober. That fun factor is even more true than the norm in Warhammer Online, as the Destruction races offer up some gloriously sadistic ways to squick the other side. There are three ranged DPS classes on the Destruction side, and with only their two melee counterparts to rely on they'll be taking up a lot of the damage-dealing slack once the game goes live. Players who choose these classes are going to have a heck of a lot of fun variously shooting, exploding, and damning the souls of their opponents. That's just how DPS players like it, too. Join us for a walk on the dark side with the Squig Herder, the Dark Elf Sorceress, and the Chaos Magus. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Peer into WAR's career system guts
If you just can't get yourself enough Warhammer Online information, then let us point your by-now strained-from-lack-of-sleep eyes towards this MMORPG.com preview of the game's career system. EA Mythic has obviously spent a lot of time thinking about their classes and with very good reason. In a game that's centered around the developer's patented Realm vs Realm combat system it matters very much that there is a close-as-possible balance between the two factions of Order and Chaos.This is of course a subject that's been touched on by us and other people all around the MMO blogosphere, which is probably making the guys responsible for realm balance over at EA Mythic feel a little stressed -- that is if they weren't to begin with. If that preview still doesn't sate your now-obviously insatiable desire to know more about Squig Herders and Chaos Magi or essentially any other class featured in the game, we've got you covered.
From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Destruction careers
With the announcement of the White Lion as the final career in Warhammer Online, we finally have a good idea of what the class dynamics will be in the long-anticipated MMO from Mythic. Obviously, the specifics of each aren't set in stone, as some classes don't even have their masteries announced yet, but one finally gets the sense that it's all starting to come together. With this is mind, we've put together an overview of the game's classes, including a comparison to their tabletop equivalents, to give you a better idea of what you've got to look forward to with the upcoming open beta. In the first part of this feature, we take a look at the careers on the side of Destruction.And if you like what you what you see here, make sure to check out our on-going Massively goes to WAR features! From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Destruction careers >>>>>%Gallery-24169%
Warhammer Online hands-on
The beta may be closed now, but we were lucky enough to get our mitts on Warhammer Online at EA's booth at E for All recently. We were only able to access lowbie characters and starting area content, so unfortunately weren't able to experience some of the juicier RvR content that awaits characters later in the game -- but a few hours' worth of exploring several zones and spending some time with a handful of Warhammer's 24 careers left us pretty excited to see what else is in store when this launches. Initial impression: the game looks gorgeous. The environments are lush, detailed, compelling, immersive. The art style is unique -- not as "cartoonish" as WoW but not photo-realistic either... unique. The combat animations are dynamic and diverse for characters and NPCs alike. The several zones we saw were populated with a diverse assortment of nasties to beat on, interesting landmarks and scenery, and a general feeling that there's a lot of action going on around you -- there's a huge war on, and Warhammer manages to convey a sense of generalized anxiety and excitement that makes it difficult to forget that you're in this world with one primary duty: to smash faces.%Gallery-9466%
